Awning frame



Sept. '26, 1933. L. Y. BUCKINGHAM AWNING FRAME Filed Feb. 25, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet l Lew/Ir Sept. 26, 1933- L. Y. BUCKINGHAM AWN I N G FRAMEFiled Feb. 25, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zemls' Patented Sept. 26, 1933UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application February 25, 1933. Serial No.658,623

9 Claims. (01. 156-42) My invention relates to improvements in awning orcanopy frames, and has broadly for its object, the making of such aframe so that the same may be readily collapsed or folded and the canvasof the awning rolled thereon so that the awning in its entiretycanreadily be stored away when not in use. This is most desirable, bothfrom the standpoint of storage in transit, or in stores or otherplaces'of use. 7

While it has heretofore been old in the art to make collapsible orfolded awning frames, these prior knock-down frame structures have notmet the requirements of successful commercial use,

due not only to their complicated character which made their manufactureunder competition prohibitive, but also to the fact that they weredifficult to assemble and to hang or secure to the opening for whichtheir use was intended.

Besides the above disadvantages in this type of awning frame asheretofore made, one of the greatest difficulties occurring in use wasthe factthat theside members of the frame had a decided tendency toweave or move laterally with respect to the front section in a wind whenthe jawningwas hanging. This was due to the construction of such frameswith hinged or break joints between the'side and front sections whichpermitted the side sections to only fold inwardly along the inside ofthe front section and to over- ;come this tendency, it has beennecessary to either produce complicated, cumbersome break joints ortoutilize extra reinforcements or stay pieces, all adding to the cost ofmanufacture of the awning frame, difficulty in assembling andnecessitating frequent replacement of parts due to wear and strain.'This tendency of the frame to weave and sway is overcome by my improvedconstruction of frame as will hereinafter be pointed out more in detail.

'40; Still another disadvantage of the prior awning having knock-down orfolding frames in which the side members fold inwardly, lies in the factthatthe canvas from which the body of the'awning is made is stretched bythe inswing of the side section relative'to the front section at thehinge or break joint when. the same is folded, and consequently, tears,rips and wears badly at these points.

In my improved awning frame, all of the above disadvantagesvare'overcome in avery simple'manner without any complication inmanufacture or assemblage, and it is my intention to accomplish thesebeneficial results by causing the side sections to fold only outwardlywith respect -to the front section, as distinguished from foldinginwardly, so as to lie along the front of the latter when in knock-downposition and to prevent their inward movement or swing with respect tothe front section to an angle of not more than 90 to the rear, in whichposition-it, is desired to maintain the same when in use.

Having outlined the general type of awning I have invented, I will nowdescribe the preferred construction thereof, and so that the same may bereadily understood, reference is madeto the 5 V accompanying drawings,in which: b

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the awning hung' at a window opening;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the awning when in position to use;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view;

Figure 4 is an enlarged section of the side member and hinge;

Figure 5 is a plan view with one'of the side bars turned back intofolded or knockdown position; and

Figures 6 and 7 are modifications of types of hinges which may beemployed in lieu of that shown in Figure 4. I

In the drawings, A represents a U-shaped frame over which the canvas Bof the awning is threaded or stretched. This frame comprises a frontsection C and two side sections D adapted to bev attached at their freeinner or eye ends E to the frame of a window or other opening by usualmeans well known in the art. The top of the awning is hung from points Fnear the top of the opening frame. The frame A is made of three piecesof metal comprising the front and side sections over which the'loweredges of the awning are threaded, as usual. At the points G where theside sections D are attached to the front sectionC, I construct a hingeor break joint, preferably of the form shown more clearly in Fig. 4.This hinge is made by forming or securing pairs of ears H and K on theends of the front and side sections respectively, and interposing a linkor leaf L between each pair of ears, thereby. connecting the sections.This link or leaf L is connected to the ears H and K so that the sameturns or is capable of movement relative thereto and has a shoulder orabutment M formed at one of its inner edges, which shoulder is adaptedto make contact with the space between the ears carried by the sidemembers and limit the innerrelative movement of the sections and link inone direction, while the outer edge N of the link is rounded to someextent, or so formed as to readily pass between the shoulders, allowingfree swing in the opposite or thereto while in this position by theabutment M at one end and the fastenings at their eye ends E. 7

Attention is called to the fact that the link or leaf L is preferably ofsuch length that when the side members are in their collapsed or foldedpo sition with respect to the front section, that is, when the same areapproximately parallel thereto, that there is a spacing at the ends ofthe members where they are connected. This is a material advantage,inasmuch as it forms the space for folds of the canvas of the awning,whereas, on the other hand, the joints of the front andside sectionswere closely pivoted, the

canvas would naturally be readily pinched, frayed andtorn by the foldingof the sections at their hinge connection when in knock-down condition.

tions of'joints which will accomplish the same result as that abovedescribed. In Fig. 6, there is a curved or gooseneck end 1 attached tothe side sections and hinged to the front section. 35-

The curvature of this end permits 'the ready folding of the sidesections outwardly to a position parallel to the front section, butlimits the inward movement. thereof by abutting at the point 2thereagainst. Fig. 7 is still another way of accomplishing this samegeneral result by pro-' viding a decided shoulder 3 on the connectingmember. I

It is also my intention to provide in connection with an awning frame ofthe type described, an'awning having side section embracing portionsthrough which the side sections are threaded and which side sectionembracing portions are adapted to be-readily opened by means of a quick,detachable fastener, preferably of the zipper type, but obviously of anyother known form, indicated at O. The end button of the fastenerpreferably has attached thereto a comparatively soft metal tab or stripP which is adapted to be folded around the inner or eye part E of theside sections and operates to hold the fastener in closed position bybinding the same around the eye end E.

' It is quite advantageous to have this fastener arrangement inconnection with a folding or knock down awning due to'the fact that thepocket can be opened the full length thereof and when the joint isbroken at the hinge, there, will be very little, if any, materialwhichwill be affected by the outer fold thereof and thus, of course,avoids wear and tear of the canvas at these points. i

It will be obvious that I may employ other forms of hinges orconnections between the outer ends of the side members and the frontmember, inasmuch as it is my primary object to limit the backwardswinging of the side sections so that when they are hung or attached attheir inner ends E to the frame of the opening, the awning will berigidly held in place and there can be no swaying or weaving of theframe when InFigs. 6 and '7, I have shown two modifica once hung due towind or other conditions. This is considerably due to the fact that whenthe inner ends of the awning frame are sprung or swung in place and areinserted in the window frame brackets, they are thereby held againstlateral movement both by the hinge stops and by the brackets, becausethe hinge stop is then at the limit of its inward movement and beingheld in place in this position by the window bracket at the inner end ofthe awning. Yet, when the frame and awning are detached from thefastenings at the rear, the same may readily and easily be folded forstorage in transportation and the canvas can be readily rolled thereoninto a compact bundle. Also, there will be no stretching and tearing ofthe canvas at the hinge points when the frame is being folded inasmuchas there is no stretching caused by an inward swing, but only an outwardfold which causes no stretching of the fabric. This is particularly truewith the fastener arrangement of the side section embracing portions.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

,1. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and the front section, said hingehaving a part thereof constituting an abutment for limiting the rearwardswing of a side section with respect to the front section to a positionat right angles thereto at the'rear while permitting the side sectionsto be folded forward to a position approximately horizontal to the frontsection.

2. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingebetween the side sections and front section, said hinge permitting freeoutward movement of the side sections with respect to the front sectionand limiting the rearward movement of the side sections with respect tothe front section. V

3. A knock-down awning frame comprising front and side sections and ahinge connection be-' tween the side sections and front section, thehinge being so constructed as to permit free outward movement of theside sections with respect to the front section so as to allow the sidesections to lie approximately parallel to the front section and saidhinge preventing the side sections from moving rearwardly with respectto the front section beyond the point desired for hanging the frame atthe opening intended.

4. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and front section, the hinge havingan abutment along the inner edge thereof to limit the rearward movementof the side sections with respect to the front section.

5. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and front section, the hinge havingan abutment along the inner edge thereof to limit the rearward movementof the side sections with respect to the front section and said hingehaving the outer edges thereof rounded so as to permit free outwardmovement of the side sections with respect to the front section.

6. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and front section, the hingepermitting free movement of the side sections with respect to the frontsection in one direction and limiting the movement of the side sectionswith respect to the front section in the opposite direction incombination with an awning having slit side section-embracing portionswithin which the side no sections are disposed, the slit extending alongone side of the embracing portions and ending adjacent the hingeconnection and a quick detachable fastener for the opening.

7. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and front section, the hingepermitting free outward movement of the side sections with respect tothe front section and limiting the tear ward movement thereof incombination with an awning having slit side section-embracing meansadapted to contain the side sections and a quick detachable fastener forthe slit of the embracing means.

8. An awning frame comprising front and side sections and a hingeconnection between the side sections and front section, the hingepermitting free movement of the side sections with respect to the frontsection in one direction and limiting the movement of the side sectionswith respect to the front section in the opposite direction, incombination with an awning having slit side section embracing meanswithin which the side sections are disposed and a quick detachablefastener for the embracing means.

9. An awning frame comprising front and side sections, a hinge.connection between the side sections and the front section, the hingepermitting free outward movement of the side sections with respect tothe front section and limiting the rearward movement of the sidesections with respect to the front section, in combination with anawning having side section-embracing portions, said embracing portionshaving a longitudinal slit provided with a quick detachable fastener,the slit ending adjacent the hinge connection.

LEWIS Y. BUCKINGHAM.

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